http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Soda-ash-i...

Soda ash industry fights recession, Chinese rivals
US producers of hidden but pervasive soda ash fight recession, Chinese rivals
• By Matt Joyce, Associated Press Writer
• On Sunday July 26, 2009, 2:51 pm EDT
• Companies:
o Fmc corp
The economic recession, including weak demand for glass in the auto and construction sectors, contributed to a 24 percent drop in U.S. soda ash production between the last three months of 2008 and the first quarter of this year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The four soda ash producers in Wyoming's Green River Basin -- FMC Corp., General Chemical, OCI Chemical Corp. and Solvay Chemicals -- account for 92 percent of the U.S. industry. Searles Valley Minerals in California is the nation's only other producer.
Monte Morlock, president of the United Steelworkers Local 13214 at FMC's Green River facility, said production has slowed, but there haven't been any layoffs at FMC and he hasn't heard about any at the area's other plants.
"The soda ash plants out here play a very important role in this community," Morlock said. "It's the type of job that you can raise a family and you can stay in the area. You don't have to be gone for days on end."
The United States produced a record 11.3 million metric tons of soda ash in 2008 and exported about 47.6 percent of that, according to the USGS.
"The U.S. had really been sold out (of soda ash) for five years up through 2008," said Bill Breunig, director of sales and marketing for Philadelphia-based FMC. "Both the U.S. and the export business really began to slow up in the December time frame and into the first quarter. Basically, as things atrophied, the Chinese were very aggressive on gearing up exports."
So during this period of plummeting demand, including a 14 percent drop of demand in China in the first quarter of 2009, here you have the Chinese essentially trying to export their way out of a recession and keep jobs in China by increasing exports," said John McDermid, president of IBC Inc., a Washington, D.C., company that consults for soda ash distributor American Natural Soda Ash Corp.
Wyoming's congressional delegation recently sent letters to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton trying to influence the Obama administration's trade discussions with the Chinese.
McDermid said he hopes the Chinese export policy will be part of discussions of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue taking place Monday and Tuesday in Washington. The industry will also push for inclusion in discussions of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, he said.
"We basically see ourselves as a case study," he said. "This is real big picture stuff."
Meanwhile, the American Natural Soda Ash Corp. is working to catch up with Chinese exporters, said Breunig, who sits on the ANSAC board along with his position with FMC.
He said the Wyoming producers intend to use their cost position to pick up more customers. Making soda ash from trona is cheaper than synthetic methods, which account for most of China's production, according to the industry.
"As the lowest-cost producer in the world, we should be operating at the best operating rates," Breunig said. "That's the whole strategic thrust of this type of businesses is to get the low-cost position, so we just need to execute on that. That's what's going on right now."